


A Red Flutter

by MDCBD



Series: IronStrange Drabbles & Short stories [3]
Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Reincarnation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-01
Updated: 2019-06-01
Packaged: 2020-04-05 06:37:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19043158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MDCBD/pseuds/MDCBD
Summary: It had been following them around for a while now. At first, he had thought that maybe it was just a coincidence, he had desperately wanted to, after everything. But if his training both as a doctor and a sorcerer has thought him something, it's that coincidences don't really exist.An untrained or unassuming eye wouldn't have guessed, it looked pretty normal after all. If it wasn't for its unnatural crimson color, he wouldn't have guessed either.





	A Red Flutter

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Arbonne](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arbonne/gifts), [Lumeha](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lumeha/gifts), [VisionaryGalaxy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/VisionaryGalaxy/gifts).



It had been following them around for a while now. At first, he had thought that maybe it was just a coincidence, he had desperately wanted to, after everything. But if his training both as a doctor and a sorcerer has thought him something, it's that coincidences don't really exist.

An untrained or unassuming eye wouldn't have guessed, it looked pretty normal after all. If it wasn't for its unnatural crimson color, he wouldn't have guessed either.

And it followed the two remaining Starks like a moth followed light.

_Now is not the time for puns, concentrate._

He sighed, feeling exhaustion rolling on his shoulders. Grief had taken a heavy stroll on his mind and body these last days. If his theory was right (and he was sure it was, the universe like to play these kind of jokes on him), then he would need to care of himself more, since he'd have to use a lot of magic soon and he would need to recover.

While everyone was watching Pepp— Tony's widow and daughter walking towards the lake with the flower bouquet and the Arc reactor, he noticed the thing fluttering around them, as usual. Its thin bloody wings reflected the light in a way that almost made it invisible, but if one was looking for it, you could easily see the red butterfly following them.

It trailed after them, flopping up and down at a calm pace. He saw it settle onto Morgan's right shoulder as everyone was watching the bouquet float away calmly.

His eyes tingled, he felt moisture gather on his under lashes. He let the tears form, deciding that if they wanted to roll down, he'd let them. He stayed there, carefully not blinking as much as possible, watching the clouds go by in the sky, indicating the passing time, and the people leave for their home after the ceremony was finished. Wong left with a silent compassionate pat on his shoulder, he barely acknowledged it with a brief nod, still concentrated.

When the two Starks passed by him, he briefly bowed his head in a silent apology, he received a small tentative smile and a curious brown and familiar gaze.

The butterfly lifted again from Morgan's shoulders but before it could go anywhere Stephen trapped it into the mirror dimension and quickly got in after it.

He created a shield so the small creature could settle on it and watched with rapt attention as it turned around and faced him, than got closer with tentative steps.

This was the difficult part. From what he's seen, it seemed to have basic awareness of people it knew in his previous life or some sort of recognition. Maybe it was based on auras, he didn't know for sure. He personally believed that it had full awareness, which would be the best case scenario. Either way, it definitely didn't behave like a normal butterfly, nor did it look like one. Viceroy butterflies (thanks Google) were not abnormal in Northern America, but they were not red for sure.

_Okay, this is the moment._

He raised his shaking hands and traced the sigils slowly, making the sure that everything was correct. These kind of spells were very difficult and intricate, and could easily go wrong, which was why he spent so much time before trying anything despite knowing what was going on since a few weeks already. All the while he watch the butterfly's head turning around, all too human, seemingly staring his hands moving and crafting the spell.

He finally stopped and pushed his hand forward, directing the complex glowing figure toward the butterfly. He watched with heated breath as it made contact then exploded, before surrounding the small creature with a golden halo of light.

Then he made similar hand gestures, if a bit more hastily, and this time prompted the spell toward himself with a grabbing movement.

And he waited.

The instructions didn't tell exactly how much time he had to wait or if it would work with beings that weren't humans, maybe he should've tried with the Cloak first, who knows.

Several minutes passed, nothing happened. He closed his eyes in defeat. Maybe he had failed and the spell hadn't worked or he did something wrong. Or maybe… Maybe he had disillusioned himself since the beginning, maybe it was nothing but just a dumb butterfly that happened to be the exact same deep red color of the Iron Man armor and nothing more. A new species, a mutation, nothing surnatural like Tony Stark reincarnating into a butterfly and—

_Hello…?_ He heard, like a distant voice in a storm, like a marvelous song filtering through radio static. It was soft, so amazingly soft. So beautiful. The best thing he's ever heard.

He choked, tears suddenly welling and streaming down his cheeks. It worked. It worked! He laughed, relieved. He hadn't been wrong, it had just taken some time to form the telepathic bond.

“Hey,” he answered vocally, forgetting for a moment that he didn't need to speak. “I'm glad to see you.”

He waited, feeling giddy from the sudden rush of relief. The poor thing probably needed some time to adapt to its new form and the bond between them, he was probably overwhelmed by his thoughts. He would have to refine the spell so it would be easier for it— for _him_ to speak.

_Strange._

“Stephen, if you want,” but he nodded anyway. The butterfly flapped his wings once, in agreement or annoyance, he didn't know, but he smiled anyway. _How are you feeling?_ He continued in his mind.

A few seconds. _Like I'm underwater,_ he answered. _It feels… sluggish._

_That's normal, you're not adapted to your new form,_ he acquiesced. _You've lived half a century as a human, being a butterfly mustn't be easy. I'm actually surprised you can fly, but I didn't expect anything less coming from you._ A smile drawn itself on his lips, his eyes crinkled with mirth, shining with remnants of tears.

_Of course not._ Came the short reply. _Butterfly or not, I'm still Tony Stark._

He snorted. Another tear rolled down. He wiped it this time. He didn't need to feel sad anymore.

_Yeah. You're Tony Stark._

He extended his arm, sling ring already on his fingers. _Come along then, Tony Stark. You still have some people left to see who'd like to know that you're alive._ The ‘me included’ went unsaid but he felt that the butterfly heard it from his mind. 

The red creature lifted from the floating shield and flew to his forearm where it settled tentatively. He smiled and made a gesture, and the shield disappeared. Looking toward the house with his chin raised and his shoulders straight, he lifted his free arm and created a portal, stepping forward without hesitation and already opening his mouth with a grin to call for a certain red headed woman, her daughter, and a few other people.

**Author's Note:**

> I gift this to Arbonne who loves H/C, Visionarygalaxy who loves Fluff and Lumeha who is a good friend and helped me choose between countless butterflies.
> 
> Shout out to **[capochinootea](https://capochinootea.tumblr.com/post/185219449120/based-on-this-post-i-just-really-love-the-concept)** for their fanart on which this story is based.
> 
> **[This is what Tony looks like](https://mdcbd.tumblr.com/post/185298728842/fuck-google).**
> 
> This is also for my "Mind Reading" square on my **[Stephen Strange 2019 Bingo Card](https://mdcbd.tumblr.com/post/185298175202/fill-for-the-mind-reading-prompt-chapters).**
> 
> I hope you liked it. :)
> 
> Me @ My subscribers : **Endless update mails because I keep doing small changes.**


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